how to replace endcaps on NO

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bussardnr

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Feb 21, 2005
Messages
160
Location
Thurmont MD
is there anything special to do or do you just pull out the wires and stick them into the new endcaps?
 
Was there something wrong with your old ones? Standard NO caps can except T-12 and T-8 lamps if you were conserned about that. If you are trying to replace damaged or trying to install mosture proof endcaps then yes you would just take out the wires of the old ones and put them in the new.. HTH
 
yeah, i've been reading and found that some pre 1979 ballasts contain pcb's. the lights are from around that time. maybe a couple years newer.
 
Some of the origanal ballasts are still operating? If the ballasts make the bulbs flicker badly they will be burning out bulbs prematurely..
 
yeah, i thought alot of them would need replacing, but its not my store ;) theres about 15 lights all wired together on each side. could i replace them one here and there with any kind of ballast or do they all have to be the same?
 
are you saying that the ballasts are powering 15 or 30 lamps each?
If so I am not aware of any ballast that can manage to do that.. so I would assume that there is one ballast per 2- maybe 6 lamps tops..
the question "any kind of ballast" is a little vague so Ill just say any kind that will work.. :D

If your intrested in using one ballast per 1 or 2 bulbs then most any electronic or magnetic ballast will work (if they are rated to fire at least the power needed to power the lamps your using)
 
its not wired at all. is there something i could use that will keep the power cord from being pulled out once i install it? so the wires arnt the only thing holding it in the housing
 
Did the fixture not have a power cord and a rubber gromit or some sort of attacment in the first place? Im thinking that would be the ideal solution to what your talking about..
 
no, its the kind you usally hardwire. i got a powercord for it but wasnt sure if there was anything else i needed
 
where is the original ballast? where is its power cord? cant you just wire it to the same general area? or are you building a new lighting fixture?
 
its just a cheap strip light with the ballast inside. i was just wondering if there was anything to keep the power cord in the fixture other than the ballast wires(so if some moron yanks on it, it doesnt mess up everything)
 
sodering the wires.. zip ties.. they make wiring clamps for metal outlet boxes that screw down... Ask the local Ace hardware man for some suggestions.. :D
 
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